JOTA logo

The 2009 Logo shows a character which seems to be smiling at us and which acknowledges the cultural diversity of the participants and the involvement of young people at international level. In addition, the design of the symbols for radio and Internet are combined, to show the use of both of these technologies in the transmissions. The JOTA logo and other material bearing it can be reproduced for all non-commercial use by WOSM member Associations. All other use is subject to the granting of a license agreement from the World Scout Bureau. Download the new JOTA logo here:

high resolution, colour	standard, in purple	standard, in black/white

Participation Cards

This year's participation cards are mailed separately to the National Scout Organisations. The intend is that each participating station receives its card, as a confirmation of its participation and a souvenir of the event.

Theme: Climate Change Challenge C3

World Scouting's communication theme for this year is environment, given our work and the worldwide focus on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference (COP 15) in Copenhagen 7 - 18 December. Therefore the "C3" is an excellent opportunity to show to the world the efforts of millions of Scouts to protect the environment and take positive action against climate change. JOTA is a real testimony to the international dimension of Scouting, where young people not only learn about new technologies, they can understand that there are millions of Scouts all over the world sharing the same vision: creating a better world!

The radio and Internet discussions that will take place during the JOTA will contribute to enhancing the participants' awareness of environmental issues. The educational tools will be based on the content of the World Scout Environment Programme and a special kit for JOTA is currently under development.

Already available topics that can be used related to your JOTA programme:
natural disasters
prepare for distasters of any kind
alternate energy for your JOTA station
the carbon footprint

For this year we are promoting "green" JOTA radio stations. During the celebrations of the centenary of Scouting in 2007, a JOTA radio station was set up on Brownsea Island, running fully on solar, wind and human energy. In order to complete the Climate Change Challenge ("C3") a JOTA participant should:

1. Help your JOTA radio station to become a "green" radio station. Is your radio station environmentally friendly? Can you reduce the carbon footprint of the radio station?
2. Discuss with 2 different people from 2 different countries about what actions can you do to reduce your environmental footprint
3. Learn about an environmental problem found close to the JOTA radio station and write down a possible action to improve the situation.

When the points above are completed the JOTA participant will receive the certificate produced by WOSM.

SCENES Centres and JOTA.

Scout Centres of Excellence for Nature and Environment (SCENES) Centres have seen a recent revitalisation with the launching of the SCENES Network and SCENES Guidelines. There is potential to engage SCENES Centres with JOTA by encouraging SCENES Centres to host a JOTA station and to explore ways in which we can showcase the SCENES Centres over the weekend as examples of places that Scouts can go to for exploring nature and the environment. There are currently 9 SCENES Centres in 7 countries and there is a lot of interest from other Scout Centres throughout the world to also become SCENES Centres. JOTA can help to strengthen the awareness of SCENES and the SCENES Centres could provide the examples of 'Green Stations'.

Languages

Life would be so much easier, but perhaps less interesting, if every Scout spoke the same language. But this is not the case. How can we help Scouts to communicate with fellow-Scouts that do not speak their language? Here are a few ideas:

The translator machine:

There is a free translation service available at the internet. You can enter up to one page of text in one language and ask it to translate it into another. It has over 20 different languages available. Last year, several JOTA groups used it to translate radio messages on the spot. It may not be very fast, but it is fun to do and it does help. You could even prepare a standard message for your Scouts in many different languages. Click on the 「 translate」 button and it will get you to the translator machine.

The J-Code:

The J-code is a tool that enables a very basic conversation in those cases where there is no common language between the youngsters. The J-code is simply a set of abbreviations similar to the Q-Code used by radio amateurs. It is NOT a code intended to hide the contents of the transmissions, quite the opposite, it is intended to enable communication. As such it can be used over amateur radio and in internet chat contacts. The J-code is available in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Brazilian-Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, German, Norwegian and Chinese (more to follow) and can be downloaded from the library at the radio-scouting web site.